Analysis

Experts See Immunity Defense Reset After NJ Transit Ruling

By Carla Baranauckas

The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling Wednesday that New Jersey Transit isn't an arm of the state clarified a key limit on sovereign immunity, with experts telling Law360 that the court's emphasis on corporate form and formal liability could change how states structure and defend their state-created, quasi‑governmental entities.

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NJ Trade Groups Fight Outgoing Admin's Environmental Rules

By Isaac Monterose

Two New Jersey trade groups said Friday that they are challenging land use rules designed to mitigate the effects of climate change that were finalized on Gov. Phil Murphy's last day in office.

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TriZetto, Cognizant Hit With Class Claims Over Data Breach

By George Woolston

A Cognizant Technology Solutions-owned healthcare tech company was hit with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court on Friday over its alleged failure to protect the sensitive personal and health information of thousands.

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NJ Talc Suit Will Proceed Amid Beasley Allen DQ Appeal

By Emily Sawicki

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to stay multicounty litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder brought by hundreds of women who allege their ovarian cancer was linked to the product, while Beasley Allen appeals its removal as plaintiff's counsel over a firm partner's collaboration with the pharmaceutical giant's former outside counsel.

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Fencer Says US Olympic Committee's Trans Ban Is Unjustified

By David Steele

Banning a transgender woman from a fencing competition violated state antidiscrimination laws, and a White House executive order cannot override them, the fencer suing the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee told a New Jersey federal court.

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NJ Utility Dept. Approves Historic Solar Program Expansion

By George Woolston

New Jersey's utility regulator took a number of actions this week aimed at expanding clean energy generation in the state, including the approval of the largest-ever expansion of the Garden State-run Community Solar Energy Program.

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Big Data, C-PACE, Mamdani's Planners

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a look at the evolution of big data in real estate transactions, C-PACE financing growth according to Nuveen's head counsel, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's recent picks to lead the city's planning department.

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3rd Circ. Revives White Cop's Bias Suit, Citing High Court

By Grace Elletson

The Third Circuit reinstated a white New Jersey cop's suit Friday claiming he wasn't promoted to chief because his town wanted to hire a racial minority, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that nixed an extra hurdle for workers of majority groups who claim they faced bias.

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Judge Wants Action On FEMA Disaster Mitigation Funds Delay

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge Friday ordered the Trump administration to step up its pace in restoring a disaster mitigation funding program, nearly three months after he ordered it to do so.

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Health Groups Back Bid To Bar Noncitizen Benefit Restrictions

By Gianna Ferrarin

A group of public health organizations and scholars Friday urged a Rhode Island federal court to make permanent its order blocking the Trump administration from enacting a policy change basing access to a host of federally funded services on immigration status.

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Judge Denies NJ Co.'s Protest Of $300M Air Force Contract

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has said a New Jersey contractor hasn't shown that the U.S. Air Force acted illegally by giving more weight to negative past performance reviews than other factors, rejecting the firm's bid for a spot on an up to $300 million multiple award construction contract.

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Leveraging MDLs And State Courts In Mass Tort Strategy

Multidistrict litigation's quiet drift from a pretrial coordination device to a de facto national court for mass torts poses a strategic question for plaintiffs counsel — whether an MDL will yield timely trials, meaningful accountability and fair value for clients, or whether a state court strategy will be more effective, say attorneys at DiCello Levitt.

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9th Circ. Ruling Evinces Tightening Of Nonmedical Hardship

The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Vilchis-Gomez v. Bondi illustrates how a series of immigration decisions are transforming the extreme hardship defense to removal into a de facto medical necessity requirement, but practitioners can push back by continuing to assert long-standing precedents and building comprehensive records, says Abdoul Konare at Konare Law.

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Kavanaugh, Jackson Debate High Court Emergency Orders

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back Monday against critiques that the high court is ruling in favor of President Donald Trump in emergency appeals more often than it did for prior presidents, saying people who believe those allegations have "short" memories. 

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Ex-DLA Piper Atty Alleging Rape Can't Remain Anonymous

By Lauren Berg

A former Boston-based DLA Piper associate cannot use a pseudonym to pursue a lawsuit alleging she was raped by one of the firm's former partners, a Massachusetts judge ruled, noting that she already publicly revealed her identity in a related suit against the accused attorney.

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Employment Law Cases Have Rebounded Except For FLSA

By Max Kutner

Employment law cases overall have bounced back from pandemic-era lows, especially discrimination and disability accommodation suits, though a slump has continued for Fair Labor Standards Act claims, according to a report by legal analytics provider Lex Machina.

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NJ US Atty Trio Booted In 2nd Leadership Ouster

By George Woolston

A federal judge on Monday disqualified the three assistant attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, finding the "byzantine" leadership structure is unconstitutional.

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Brief

SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein To Be Sentenced In June

By Emily Sawicki

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, currently under home confinement in Washington, D.C., after a Maryland jury convicted him on tax evasion and mortgage fraud charges, will face sentencing in June.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes spanning alleged forged board approvals at a telecom startup, evidence-destruction claims tied to WWE's blockbuster merger with UFC and investor scrutiny of a multibillion-dollar deal between Intel and the U.S. government.

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McGuireWoods Beats Sun Pharma's DQ Bid In NJ Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal court has denied Sun Pharmaceutical's bid to disqualify McGuireWoods LLP from representing pharmaceutical company Biofrontera in litigation over the alleged breach of a settlement agreement, ruling the firm's continued representation won't harm Sun Pharmaceutical and will avoid significant harm to Biofrontera.

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Lewis Brisbois Renews Bid To Force Paralegal To Arbitrate

By Adrian Cruz

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked a Florida state judge on Friday to have a former paralegal arbitrate her defamation claims that its actions tarnished her reputation and cost her a job at another firm.

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K&L Gates IP Atty Tapped For Wash. Supreme Court Seat

By Rachel Riley

A K&L Gates intellectual property litigator will become the Washington State Supreme Court's first justice of Middle Eastern descent, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said Monday, announcing his pick to replace veteran retiring Justice Barbara Madsen.

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